Whispering Flames: The Fire of Lag B'Omer

Tapping into the fiery, spiritual energy that is embedded in every iota of creation.

Fire. With dancing, leaping, flashing tongues of flame, fire lights up the Lag B'Omer night sky. Jews light bonfires to commemorate the holiday, continuing a tradition that dates back hundreds of years. Lag B'Omer is the day on which Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai revealed the chief mystical work, the Zohar, through an explosion of fire, and it is the day on which he died.

The tongues of flame whisper a message. What is the mysterious, inner meaning of all the fire?

To unravel the mystery, we need to go 3,500 years back in time to young Abraham in Mesopotamia, left to mind his father's idol shop. He looked at the sun, the moon, the stars and heavenly bodies and concluded that it would be ridiculous to think that inanimate, man-made idols had control over these things. As he contemplated more and more evidence of design in the world, he concluded that there must be a Creator who controls all.

The world around him thought otherwise, and even united to build a tower to "fight" their conception of God. But the more Abraham saw in the world, the more he realized that everything is guided by the hand of the Creator.

Abraham's discovery is expressed through a metaphor that sheds light on the deeper meaning of fire. Abraham coming to recognize God is compared to a wanderer who sees a mansion engulfed in flames and subsequently concludes that the mansion must have an owner. The master of the house then sees the wanderer and introduces himself. Abraham similarly looked at the world and concluded that it must have a Master, and merited the Master's acknowledgement (Bereishit Rabba 39:1).

This is a difficult parable to understand. A burning mansion is more a sign of neglect than of ownership. What did Abraham, the wanderer of the parable, see that pointed to a Master?

The Hebrew language, the language of creation according to Jewish tradition, provides us with the key to unlocking the metaphor.

Every physical object or phenomenon, in addition to its physical reality, conveys a spiritual comment on existence.

The Hebrew word for 'thing,' the generic word that captures all physical objects, is 'davar.' Davar derives from the Hebrew root 'dibur' which means 'to speak.' This is no coincidence. It teaches us that every davar expresses a dibur -- a spoken message. Every physical object or phenomenon, in addition to its physical reality, conveys a spiritual comment on existence.

For example, a rose, on the surface level, is aesthetically pleasing and fragrant. But the rose also conveys a deeper message: intricacy and symmetry that points to intelligent design and a Designer. The external message is readily apparent. However, the inner meaning of an object can be elusive, and sometimes one needs to develop a sensitivity before one can understand the dibur - the message, that lies hidden within every davar - thing.

The fire of the mansion was an allusion to the dibur in every object in the world. Abraham saw the mansion - the world - on fire. Fire is a unique phenomenon. It has the power to transform anything that comes into contact with it into fire itself. The release of the latent energy in the object cast into the flames gives rise to a more powerful fire. Fire reveals that within everything, in addition to the practical function of a davar - a thing, there lies hidden energy that, when tapped, gives off light that was not apparent to one looking only at the practical function of the object. That energy is the metaphor for the dibur - the message embedded in everything in the world.

Abraham was able to look at the world and see the fire burning. As a child, he contemplated the sun, the moon and the stars and concluded that they were too sophisticated to be the product of chance. There had to have been a Creator, a Designer who fashioned everything in the world, and continues to control it all. For Abraham, the sun served more than its practical external functions of giving off warmth and light. It broadcasted the message that something so awesome could not have come about by itself.

Physics teaches the laws of entropy. Left alone, things in nature move from a state of higher order to lower order, marching toward chaos. Abraham realized that it is impossible to understand the world as the product of chance. To Abraham, everything in the world expressed a deeper meaning, intelligent design and a Designer who continues to guide his creation.

Abraham saw the mansion burning. The flames, however, were not the fire of destruction. Instead, they represented the hidden energy in the mansion of the world, the inner message, the dibur, that points to the greatness of the Creator who could form such a place. The figurative flames whisper that in addition to the simple function of every davar in the word, there lies a deeper meaning that points to God for those like Abraham who had the eyes to see it.

It is no wonder that we commemorate Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai with fire. Rabbi Shimon lived in both realms at the same time; in the world of the physical as we know it, and in the realm where the spirituality in everything physical, the dibur in everything, was apparent. To Rabbi Shimon, the world was ablaze with spiritual energy, abounding with tongues of fire whispering messages about the Creator. Not surprisingly, Rabbi Shimon gave us the Zohar, the book of the mystical inner meaning that belies everything.

The ancient, the mystical and the spiritual have applications in modern times. The practical challenge of Lag B'Omer is to see the potential energy in every object and every person, instead of being fooled by the facade of the external.

Spirituality and providence are everywhere, even for those of us who are not Rabbi Shimon. However, we can easily smother the flames of inner meaning by covering over any sparks of life and attributing everything to chance.

Lag B'Omer invites us to look deeper and to hear the ever-present broadcast throughout creation. The flames of Lag B'Omer call to us and whisper that there is more to every person and every object than meets the eye, that one should never give up even if a situation looks hopeless. Look beyond the superficial and acknowledge deeper realms of existence; embrace worlds that we cannot see or touch, but which are every bit as real as the one in which we live.

Rabbi Doniel Baron is a senior lecturer at Aish HaTorah's Discovery Seminar. He received his law degree from NYU School of Law and practiced law at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. He presently lives in Jerusalem with his wife and children.

It is beautiful that all things have an inner message and energy. There is also the fact that all things are made of matter, which ultimately cannot be created or destroyed and according to Stephen Hawking has always existed. The Torah says Hashem is infinite and has and will be forever. Hashem is therefore within everything and is everything.

(24)
susana,
May 17, 2014 11:47 AM

The Fire

Like the fire of the sun....I see G*d still speaks to those who can perceive him in everything.... the shekinah always draws us in, if we CHOOSE to listen....Shalom.

(23)
Anonymous,
May 16, 2014 11:58 AM

Fires Destroy, Masters Build

Maybe the metaphor of the mansion on fire is more literal. Like the mansion on fire, our world left to its own devices is self-destructive. We have utterly wiped out entire species and physic's law of entropy spells out the fact that the universe is on an irreversible one-way path to eventually burning out. That is, if there is only nature. So it makes as little sense to believe that nature made everything as it does to believe that the mansion made itself, as both are part of a world that is inherently destructive, not constructive. Logically, the mansion MUST have gotten there via a "spiritual" force outside of nature, just like the world around us. There must be a master/Master.

We live in a natural world that tends towards entropy. If nature is beautiful and growing despite its own rules, it can only be due to a force outside nature.

(22)
David Gr,
June 9, 2012 3:42 PM

e=mc2

This makes me wonder if Abraham had a hint of the relationship between matter(all things) and energy. I find it interesting that another Jew, Albert Einstein was the first to express that physical relationship mathematically, e=mc2.

(21)
Sarah and Sophie,
May 11, 2012 4:49 PM

Fire seems to be a big part of Jewish rituals and holidays. To me, fire is something that can be both dangerous and beneficial. I always thought that fire was a force of destruction. Maybe that's just physical fire. I like the fact that this points out that each object/davar has a meaning behind it. I think fire is good because it doesn't only do destruction, it brings out the good part of things. When Abraham looked at the sun he saw more than what was just there, light and warmth, he thought and saw that there had to be a creator behind it: something/someone that made it be there.

(20)
Mirel Nechama,
May 11, 2012 4:48 PM

There is No Such Thing as Coincidence

The article talks about how we can attribute everything to chance and cover up the Divine Providence, if you will. I think that some things are just not able to be attributed to chance. There is no way statistically that all the miracles that have happened are jut chance encounters. There are ovbious miracles. Even the world today, which is so secular, uses words like "miracle" and other words like it to describe recent events everywhere. Also, there is no way that a country as small as Israel, with all the odds stacked against it (like Israel) could continue to survive without some kind of Divine Being helping out.

(19)
Anonymous,
May 11, 2012 4:48 PM

Lag Baomer

We need to be like avraham and look deeper into the meaning of what Hashem does for us. He looked and the world and understood that there was a master who created everything. On Lag Baomer, we must look at the flames of the bonfire and realize that tehre is a deeper meaning to everything that Hashem does. Not everything is tangible and we, the Jews, need to learn from Avraham.

(18)
Alex,
May 11, 2012 4:44 PM

Comparison of Fire

I find the fact that fire is used to represent R. Shimon Bar Yochai interesting as it seems to me that fire is often used to represent G-dly and holy things. For example the bonfire on Lag Baomer, the shabbos candles, havdalah, and burning the chametz on pesach all use fire to carry out G-d's will. I think it shows how we are supposed to take everything and use it for good. Fire can be so destructive, but instead of fearing it we are instructed to embrace it and use it for something as close to G-d as a korban! Just something I found interesting.

(17)
Rachel Hannah,
May 11, 2012 4:44 PM

What a cleansing fire!

This article was very interesting. Who would have thought of fire in such a way before? I think that perhaps there was a little bit of over-analyzing at some points, but it's a pretty nice dvar torah. Avraham was a really unique guy; he was an iconoclast whose ideas differed completely than those of everyone else at his time.
Fire is the perfect way to represent a cleansing. And lag baomer, apparently. Cool.

(16)
Anonymous,
May 11, 2012 4:43 PM

this was inspiring
I now want to look more into Judaism and consider conversion.

(15)
Anonymous,
May 11, 2012 4:42 PM

good article.

(14)
Shani Gluck,
May 8, 2012 5:19 PM

This is a great, in-depth perspective to have for Lag Ba 'Omer! I'm sharing this with all my buddies!

(13)
ruth housman,
May 8, 2012 2:10 PM

the symbolic significance of fire

This is beautifully stated and the deep truth within, is apparent, A PARENT, meaning what's within all Creation is Divinity itself, the sparks that are deeply about what is divine, as in Divine sparks, an essential truth of Kabbalah. If we examine flame we see there is surely the rose within, and this is beautifully explicated in a wonderful Cirque du Soleil offering I saw some years ago, in which the rose becomes the flame. But there is more to this. Flame itself is for love, as in to say, in English, I have a flame, and flame is surely a word that does connote, passion. And there is this reverberation, to the fire that was not consumed, as in, Moses and the Burning Bush. We say, we're fired up by enthusiasm, by inspiration, and we are also fired, meaning our jobs taken away from us. There is in the word burn, a deep bipolarity of meaning, as in consumed and that which is not. All words it could be said, are containers for life's paradox, as our lives. Think about the word cleave, as in split asunder but also as in come together, to cleave to another. I can go further, and I do, in explicating what some have called, The secret language of birds. Surely, as you so beautifully state, God is forever and always in the wings, and what we perceive as chance, is not, but rather a knot binds us all together and deeply to the ONE Divine Presence, and this, as presence is to presents, is a gift. This perception shall sweep the world, because we're entering a new state of consciousness. in truth/ruth

(12)
Ruth housman,
May 17, 2011 9:10 PM

Moses, the burning bush , the eternal flame

This is a poetic beautiful commentary. if you regard fire you might see as I do a conflagration of roses, the Hebrew letters, a constant emergent beauty. yes to what speaks to us, to the sentient feeling in "tongues of flame".
It is possible to traverse worlds. I do.

(11)
Brian Estill,
March 3, 2010 10:35 AM

awsome knowledge
Wow....you all have done itr to me again! whispering flames was a awsome story ot letter or whatever it was. Thank you aish and I thank our beloved creator for you too. love Brian Estill

(10)
Shani,
March 3, 2010 10:35 AM

I thought this was a wonderful perspective that should be more well known

(9)
Charles Kuttner,
May 11, 2009 2:31 PM

Science and Torah compatible

I highly recommend __The Science of God_ by Gerald Schroeder, PhD. Does a wonderful job of correlating science and Torah.

(8)
Chaim,
May 11, 2009 9:49 AM

Why Joe is wrong - sorry, Joe

The moment you use the example of a 'system', and then follow it up with examples of living systems, you have cheated. Without a designer, you can't have systems. The sun itself is a system. Matter is a system, an orderly crystallization of energy in a manner of speaking. Ultimately, light energy. "Let there be light", sound familiar?
I don't understand question 2, but to me entropy is just the natural course of events without the intervention of willful intention. But don't judge Aish by that, I haven't given it that much thought.
One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell Him that they were done with Him.
The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost."
God listened very patiently and kindly to the man and after the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this, let's say we have a man making contest." To which the scientist replied, "OK, great!"
But God added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam."
The scientist said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.
God just looked at him and said, "No, no, no. You go get your own dirt!"
http //www getyourowndirt com

(7)
goldy rosenberg,
May 11, 2009 8:11 AM

Joe -- while I can hear the objection to the laws of physics as stated above - the statement that things tend to "fall apart -- crumble" that the author brings, please note it is not merely science --it is Torah, Shlomo Hamelech pointed it out, as does the Rambam. And your argument that our world is not a closed system also misses a Torah point -- that we talk of our universe, which includes the sun, not of planet earth alone. So when talking about Avraham's searching, it had to include a closed universe, not a closed planet earth.

(6)
ruth housman,
May 10, 2009 8:32 PM

what speaks to me

This is a beautiful, profound piece of writing. I found this intensely meaningful on a personal level. I believe we are evolving towards greater compassion and that this is a soul journey. We are on different rungs of that ladder. Yes, to see the beauty within the rose, and to peel away those layers, to enter into the profound metaphoric connects, is to encounter the Divine in all creation. It all speaks and those who hear the music, truly hear the music, come to a different place. This symphony has a conductor.
As to fire itself, does it not bring us to Moses and the burning bush? There is so much that can be said for the language connects themselves and the deeper underlying metaphoric meanings.

(5)
Dvirah,
May 29, 2008 1:20 PM

When G-d Spoke Things Happened

In reply to Lucille Helman (5/2/2007)''s comment, what science evidences are the physical mechanisms by which G-d''s will is manifested (including evolution). Thanks also to Joe for his lucid exposition of the concept of Entropy.

(4)
lucille helman,
May 2, 2007 8:55 PM

Eyeopening thoughts of "INTELLIGENT DESIGN". THIS IS WHAT THE CREATIONISTS BELIEVE. HOW TO BLEND THIS WITH SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE?

(3)
Joe,
May 2, 2007 1:55 PM

Such beautiful Torah! Why does it have to be marred by terrible science?

I was reading and enjoying this article and then we had to confound it with bad science.

It was my understanding of the Midrash, that Avraham Avinu was not in the ID business. Rather, he was contemplating what was greater then what and looking into the notion of a first cause.

But perhaps I am mistaken on that. Not having the appropriate Midrash in front of me as I type, I might be misremembering. What I am *not* mistaken on is the fact that people who do not understand Thermodynamics should not have the chutzpah to write about entropy.

The Second Law of Thermodynaics does indeed state that entropy always increases - IN A CLOSED SYSTEM. The Earth is *not* a closed system. In fact, it gets it's energy from the Sun. If you look at the Earth/Sun system, you will indeed find that the total entropy is always increasing. However, most of the entropy increase comes from the Sun burning, and the energy realeased by the Sun's burning can be used by systems on the earth to fight entropy. A great example of this is that when you eat lunch, your body gains the energy needed to ward off entropy. The energy from that lunch ultimately came from the sun. BTW in the You/Lunch system, say you had a Hamburger. You fought off entropy, but I promise that the cow's entropy went way up!

Be very careful with arguments about physics teaching what can and can not be a product of chance. Because you started from half understanding half of a definition, you came to a completely incorrect conclusion.

The hidden undertone that the ID crowd frequently uses *and gets utterly wrong* is that since systems tend towards disorder - entropy increases - Evolution could not have happened. Unfortunately, since these people never passed - or have forgotten - freshman physics, they do not take the role of the Sun into account when they make their arguments. There is no thermodynamic violation of Evolution on the Earth. If there were, it would not be an accepted theory - and the community is smart enough to have thought of looking into Thermodynamics already - on its own.

For any who are offended by this response, I ask the following two questions.

1. What is Entropy anyway?2. What does it mean to have five fingered clarity?

I hope that in the future, Aish writers, who I am certain understand question 2, will apply it's lessons to question 1.

(2)
raman,
April 30, 2007 7:18 PM

wish every hunan could understand this factNOT A MYSTRY I KNOW ABOUT THIS

(1)
Peter Dieckmann,
April 30, 2007 8:31 AM

The Spark of Life!

In deed, a very revealing message, one which represents the absolute truth about the underlying nature present in all creatures and things, 'the Divur' of our Creator. We must learn to tap into the special 'vision' to be able to recognize the intelligent, loving energy present in all Creation, which 'unifies' everything and everyone in G-D.Keep the Fire 'burning' and continue to 'fan' it!